View full sizeThere was a lot of this happening in the match on both sides, but the consistency in officiating was an issue for the Timbers. However, it does look like Maximiliano Urruti is getting a little bit of help in falling down on this play.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

G Donovan Ricketts (90 minutes): 6. Under the circumstances of having four
goals scored against him, I thought Donovan's game was pretty good. Penalty kicks are a pure guess for any keeper,
and Donovan wasn't helped on Caps defender Jordan Harvey's goal because the
defense was slow to react to their marks.
If there was one somewhat preventable goal, it would have been Erik
Hurtado's rebound goal where Ricketts made the initial save off the first shot
but it rebounded right back to the Caps midfielder to pop into goal. I also saw a rarity of Ricketts being fouled
at mid pitch trying to corral a loose ball, but it showed great commitment to
getting the back to the offense.

View full sizeAfter two very good matches, Jorge Villafana had some struggles against Vancouver. While his offensive support was evident, there were plenty of gaffes in marking and communication that led to several breakdowns. He was also the target of an unfortunate penalty in trying to slow down, but he came into contact with Caps midfielder Sebastian Fernandez enough for the PK call to be made.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

D Jorge Villafana (77 minutes,
substituted for F Kalif Alhassan in 77th minute for tactics): 3.5. After two really good games, Jorge really
found himself exposed by the Caps offense as he was slow to react on many occasions. While his speed did help make up for some
mistakes, the quick reactions also created more problems as the Timbers defense
struggled to stay organized as well. The
penalty call in the first half was unfortunate, but Villafana not closing on
Morales early in the second half allowed the Caps midfielder to cross over the
pitch and eventually led to Jordan Harvey's goal.

D Pa Modou Kah (90 minutes): 4. I love Kah's passion on the pitch, but I
thought there were points where he wasn't on the same page as his fellow defenders. Whether it was lack of communication or
adjustments that pushed the team out of sync, Kah took some chances that I
thought bordered on foolish or unnecessary, while on other plays, he seemed
flat footed and slow to react.
Hopefully, he will be able to work on his chemistry with the rest of the
center backs because it was obvious at points there were issues.

D Rauwshan McKenzie (90 minutes): 4. McKenzie avoided the near own goal
situation from the two proceeding matches and even found himself in position to
take shots on goal from set pieces in support of the offense. However, his inability to react quicker
allowed the Caps forwards to take space at inopportune times and forced his
line mates to scramble to adjust. Much
like with Kah, I hope the team will be spending time working out the various
center back combinations to fix some of the chemistry issues before this
becomes an alarming trend.

D Jack Jewsbury (90 minutes): 4. I thought the defensive warrior did
reasonably well, as he made several quality adjustments when pressured with
speed. Knowing he didn't have the wheels
to stay with the Caps forwards, Jack adjusted his tactics and did a reasonably
good job of trying to slow down players.
Unfortunately, that did lead to a few moments of being on a defensive
island or scrambled, hurried defending to counter, and that's not part of Jack's
game. When he was able to pressure
forward, Jack did provide support to the offense with crosses and outlets,
which did help the ball movement.

View full sizeIf you can't stop the player, block his progress at the boot level. Yes, Maxi Urruti was surrounded here in a rather unusual way. Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

M Will Johnson (90 minutes): 7. You can tell that Will wears his heart on
his sleeve and it frustrates him to no end to lose matches like this. His 86th minute goal was a thing
of beauty, playing off the Fanendo Adi juggling to peel out left for a pass and
then calmly slot the ball past the Caps defense for the third goal. He also came within millimeters of leveling
the match with a free kick minutes later that just missed the bar. I thought Will's work was very good on the
evening, especially supporting both the offense and defense.

M Diego Chara (90 minutes): 6. Chara created a turnover in the 3rd
minute that created the run where Maximiliano Urruti tallied his goal, and I
thought this was a great way for Diego to start off the match. He settled into a nice rhythm after that
until the unfortunate penalty call where he and Jack converged on Caps forward
Erik Hurtado. After that, I saw Diego
pull up a little more than I'm used to seeing from him, and I wonder if the
call had some impact on his play. He still did well, but I have to wonder what
might have been if that penalty was waived off – and I still contend that
Hurtado aided the call by going to ground too easily.

M Diego Valeri (90 minutes): 8. Valeri directly contributed to all three
goals for the Timbers and several of the near misses, showcasing his overall
creativity and vision. Valeri found
Urruti for the first goal in great space in the middle of the pitch, while his
cross for Gaston in the second half was simply outstanding – 40 plus yards out
to find the player in miniscule space.
To top it all off, he made a similar cross for Adi at the top of the box
to help generate Will's goal. Pretty
impressive, but I'm sure he would have preferred the win.

View full sizeTimbers midfielder Diego Valeri was heavily involved in all three goals for the Portland Timbers, and came very close to getting one of his own on a few occasions. Valeri remains a creative force to deal with, and I thought his work against Vancouver was some of his best in 2014.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

F Steve Zakuani (57 minutes, substituted
by Fanendo Adi in 57th minute for tactics): 3. After really showing a great dimension
with his speed and vision out wide, I really am concerned that Zakuani might be
nothing more than a "one trick pony". I've
seen him do some very talented things on the pitch, but at least with his runs
against Vancouver, he showed two moves – fake left, go right or straight up the
middle. Neither plan really worked very
well, and hopefully this is a one off situation and he'll rebound next time.

F Fanendo Adi (33 minutes, brought on for
F Steve Zakuani in 57th minute): 7.5. The attributes that Adi brings to the
pitch were very evident in the nearly half an hour he played on the pitch – a magnet
for the ball, ability to hold and distribute, no fear to shoot from any
angle. Adi put Caps goalkeeper David
Ousted to work on several occasions before his wonderful juggling possession
that held up at least three Whitecaps defenders while Will made his run to the
left. The presence of mind to know he
would be there for the pass and not telegraph it too early is impressive, and I'm
glad Adi is on our side.

F Maximiliano Urruti (66 minutes,
substituted by F Gaston Fernandez in 66th minute for tactics): 7. Maxi had two official shots on the day
and he came within inches of getting a brace for his work. I thought he messed up on his 3rd
minute run because Zakuani was running clear to his left, but Urruti shocked everybody
by taking the shot while moving and finding room past Ousted for the goal. Doing that didn't allow the Caps defense to
adjust, and Maxi just missed in the 19th minute off a header when he
struck the crossbar. He was shocked that he missed, and honestly, I was too
considering how well he's been playing over the past few matches.

View full sizeIf you wanted to see a wonderful display of jugging a soccer ball in traffic to then find a teammate, watch the 86th minute of the Timbers - Caps match. Fanendo Adi pulls off one of the most impressive individual moves to hold the ball with juggling, then quickly distribute to Will Johnson for a goal before the Caps defense could converge.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

F Gaston Fernandez (24 minutes, brought
on for F Maximiliano Urruti in 66th minute): 7. Much like Maxi, Gaston has also been
playing well recently and he tallied his sixth goal of the 2014 season off an
incredible header by being in the right place at the right time. He came close to being involved on several
other plays, and his presence was enough to cause the Caps defense some stress
during the late rally that nearly produced the leveling goal. I hope this continues because he is a great
option to change things up within the Timbers attack.

F Kalif Alhassan (13 minutes, brought on
for D Jorge Villafana in 77th minute): 5. Putting out the other creative attacking
option, Kalif's inclusion did produce a foul very close to the box where Will
missed his free kick attempt, and a shot that skidded wide left of the
post. When Kalif has the ability to run
free out wide and create, he can be a wonderful attacking option but he also
has a tendency to isolate himself out there too much without support. That didn't happen in his short appearance on
the pitch, though.

View full sizeI hope the Nagbe family isn't jealous of all the attention Darlington gets on the soccer pitch. He couldn't go anywhere without at least two escorts wearing Caps shirts.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Timbers Coaching Staff: 6. I had no issues with Porter's rotational
plan to use nearly the same group as used versus New York with Chara in for Ben
Zemanski, and this cadre of players produced three goals from the run of play,
several quality chances, and overall a huge advantage in most offensive
categories. The problem for the Timbers
remained on the defensive end, where they conceded two and had two penalties
called against them and it was a defensive wide issue. Substitute wise, I liked the moves to ramp up
the attack, but the rally just fell short.

Game Officiating: 3. I'd been toying with adding this entry
for several weeks, and I got a few emails asking me to add one, so I can assure
you this isn't going to be another forum to attack the officials. I understand it's a tough job that few people
relish doing, but it's needed and everyone understands mistakes will
happen. That being said, the only thing I
would want officials to be is consistent throughout the entire match and fair
to both sides. In that respect, I
thought the crew here missed this mark completely, and that led to some boiled
over tensions after the final whistle.

Southsiders/Vancouver Fans: 8. In certain instances, I've added a mark
for traveling support and the Vancouver group were absolutely impressive
numbering about 500 strong or so. Full
of voice and support of their side, the first 15 minutes of the match was full
of song as much as I've heard at Providence Park. What also impressed me to see was while
downtown on May 31, I saw several Caps fans out and about enjoying the
sight. They are a very good group of
fans, and I was impressed with their efforts.

View full sizeIt seemed to be working so well for Vancouver, the Timbers tried the same trick on Gershon Koffie with Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi in pursuit. While the offense was good on the day, the defense had more than a few troublesome moments.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Overall grade for the Timbers: 6. On the one hand, I continue to be
impressed with the team's resiliency, resourcefulness and heart as they
continue to battle back under the most difficult circumstances. However, I feel that some of their issues are
self-inflicted because of poor rotation, lack of communication or just an
inability to adjust. While the
officiating made the calls for the penalties, the Timbers contributed with some
troubling marking and questionable decisions.
I hope this match provides a learning experience, especially with two
difficult fixtures on the horizon – 6/7 in Salt Lake followed by hosting FC
Dallas on 6/11 before the break in MLS regular season play.